Equestrian Championship kicks off in Sharm

CAIRO: The Salam Equestrian Championship kicked off Thursday in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm al-Sheikh with approximately 200 participants from 25 states, Youm7 reported.

The first phase of the show jumping competition will last until Saturday, while the second phase will last from March 10-12.

The championship was organized in cooperation between the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Egyptian Olympic Committee and the Egyptian Equestrian Federation (EEF) to promote tourism, head of EEF Hesham Hatab stated Thursday.

African riders come from Zimbabwe, Sudan, Algerian, Morocco, Libya and Mauritius. Arbitrators have been deployed by the International Equestrian Federation.

Tourist turnout at the Red Sea resort town has taken a nosedive due to continuing unrest since the January 25 Revolution in 2011. The October crash of a Russian airliner that killed 224 passengers and crew resulted in a number of travel bans from a number of European countries.